Planning & Design

In 2001 the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA/LA) received a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to perform a study on the feasibility of creating a modern streetcar in Downtown Los Angeles. The goal of the feasibility study was partly to determine potential physical designs, but was primarily focused on investigating how a streetcar would encourage redevelopment and smart growth in the Downtown area.

In the spring of 2008, two dozen downtown leaders and streetcar advocates visited the Pacific Northwest to meet and learn from key figures of the Portland and Seattle streetcar systems. The goal of this trip was to learn how Portland and Seattle were able to secure the funding and public support necessary to transform their projects into reality.